Blackstone Group LP, the world’s largest alternative asset manager, is raising its first energy-focused credit fund, according to people familiar with the matter, the latest sign that private equity firms are seeing investment opportunities among distressed energy assets

An Ivanhoe Cambridge Inc. venture agreed to buy a Manhattan office tower from Blackstone Group LP for about US$2.25 billion, extending a surge of investment in prime U.S. properties, said a person with knowledge of the deal